Bluetooth

Owen Garmire and Seila Kheang

CSE 466 Fall 2001
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/seila/bluetooth.ppt

Bluetooth Overview

Wireless technology for short-range

voice and data communication
Low-cost and low-power
Provides a communication platform
between a wide range of smart
devices
Not limited to line of sight
communication

Motivation
Digital Camera
Computer

Scanner

Inkjet
Printer

Home Audio System

PDA
Cell Phone

Cordless Phone
Base Station

Bluetooth Applications

Automatic synchronization between

mobile and stationary devices
Connecting mobile users to the internet
using bluetooth-enabled wire-bound
connection ports
Dynamic creation of private networks

Synchronization

Keep data on different devices

synchronized without using a cable
Example:

Walk into office and have your PDA synch

with your laptop on your desk without even
taking your PDA out of your briefcase

Connecting to Internet

Being able to gain access to the

Internet by using Bluetooth access
points

Access point is used as a gateway to the

internet
Both the access point and the device are
Bluetooth-enabled
An example of Service Discovery Protocol

Access point provides a service to the device

Ad Hoc Networks

Up to 8 devices can be actively

connected in master/slave configuration
Piconets can be combined to form
scatternets providing unlimited device
connectivity

Protocol Stack

Bluetooth Radio

Uses 2.4 GHz ISM band spread

spectrum radio (2400 2483.5 MHz)
Advantages

Free
Open to everyone worldwide

Disadvantages

Can be noisy (microwaves, cordless

phones, garage door openers)

Frequency Hopping

In order to mitigate interference,

Bluetooth implements frequency hopping
1600 hops per second through 79 1MHz
channels
Spreads Bluetooth traffic over the entire
ISM band
All slaves in piconet follow the master for
frequency hop sequence

Frequency Hopping (cont.)

Hops every packet

Packets can be 1, 3, or 5 slots long (a slot is
625s)
Packets are pretty short

Baseband Layer

Provides in-order delivery of byte streams

Handles Frequency Hop Sequences for
Synchronization and Transmission
Establishes Links

Synchronous Connection Oriented (SCO)

Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL)

Provides functionality to determine nearby

Bluetooth devices

Connection (Inquiry and Paging)

Link controller states
during connection
process

Bluetooth: Hello, Anyone Around?

Inquiry Procedure

Sends out an inquire, which is a request for

nearby devices (within 10 meters)
Devices that allow themselves to be
discoverable issue an inquiry response
Can take up to 10.24 seconds, after which
the inquiring device should know everyone
within 10 meters of itself

Device Discovery Illustrated

Note that a device can
be Undiscoverable
D

A
O

B
K

L
I

Q
C

10 meters

After inquiry procedure, A knows about others within range

Issues with Inquire Messages

Are the inquirer transmitting and the receiver

listening on the same frequency?

Since they are not yet connected, they are on

totally different hop sequences, and most likely on
different channels

If they are on the same frequency, what if

they are on a noisy channel?

Bluetooth provides the capability for receivers to

issue multiple inquiry responses

Main Idea Behind Inquire

Inquiring device sends out an inquire on 16

different frequencies (16 channel train)
Receiver (device in standby mode), performs
an inquire scan long enough for an inquiring
device to send the inquire on 16 frequencies
Receiver does an inquire scan frequent
enough so that it is guaranteed to wake up
during a 16 channel train

Inquiry Hop Train

16 Channel Train
18
16

Inquiry Channel

14
12
10
Series1
8
6
4
2
0
0

10
Slot

12

14

16

18

The Numbers Behind Inquire

Each full scan of a 16 channel train

takes about 1.28 seconds

16 channels * 625us * 128 trains = 1.28 seconds

One full 16 channel train takes 10ms.

Receiver enters inquiry scan state at least
once every 1.28 seconds, and stays in that
state for 10ms.

What about noise?

Devices always reply to received inquiry

messages with an inquiry response

An inquirer is allowed to received multiple

responses from one device

In order to account for the fact that channels

can be noisy and transmissions can get lost,
the 128 train scan is repeated up to 4 times
for each train (10.24 seconds)

Designed to successfully communicate at least

once with all devices within range

Inquiry

Uses 32 inquire channels to send out

inquiry messages
Send out inquiry on 32 channels,
broken up into 2 inquiry hop trains (16
different channels to transmit packets)
Intended to catch a device in inquiry
scan mode on one of the 32 inquire
channels

Inquiry Scan

A device periodically listens for inquiry

packets at a single frequency chosen out of
16 frequencies

Inquiry hop sequence depends on device address

Stays in the state long enough for a inquiring

device to cover 16 frequencies
Will re-enter inquiry scan state even after
responding to an inquire

Inquiry Response

When radio receives inquire, it will wait

between 0 and .32 seconds before sending
an FHS packet as a response

FHS Packet contains:

This is done to avoid collision with another radio

that also wants to send an FHS packet
Device ID
Clock

After inquiring radio is done with inquiring

procedure, it knows all of the radios (that are
discoverable) within range

Paging: Will you connect to me?

Step
1
2
3
4
5
6

Very similar to inquire

Still have not synchronized clocks or frequencies
Establishes actual Piconet connection with a device that it
knows about
Connection process involves a 6 steps of communication
between the the master and the slave
Message
Slave ID
Slave ID
FHS
Slave ID
1st Master Packet
1st Slave Packet

Direction
Master to Slave
Slave to Master
Master to Slave
Slave to Master
Master to Slave
Slave to Master

Hopping
Pattern
Page
Page Response
Page
Page Response
Channel
Channel

Pattern Source
and Clock
Slave
Slave
Slave
Slave
Master
Master

Paging Illustrated

A
O

L
I

10 meters

Q
C

Step 1: The Page Command

Device broadcasts a page message out

to the device that it wants to set up a
connection with

Does this in a similar manner as inquire

messages (on 2 frequency trains of 16
frequencies each)

Once the device receives a page

response, it will stop paging and move
on to step 2

Paging: Steps 2 & 3

Step 2: In the page response, an

acknowledgement is sent back to the
master containing the slave ID
Step 3: In the master response, the
frequency hopping generator is stopped
and the master issues an FHS packet to
the slave

Paging: Step 4

The slave issues a final slave response

transmission that is aligned to the
slaves native clock
Using the data from the FHS packet,
the slave calculates adopts the masters
frequency hopping pattern and
synchronizes to its clock

Paging: Step 5

When the master receives the packet, it

jumps back to its frequency hopping
pattern and assigns the slave an Active
Member Address (AMA) for the piconet
Master sends out a poll packet to
ensure that the slave is on its frequency
hopping pattern

Paging: Step 6

Once the slave receives the poll packet, the

slave replies with any kind of packet to
ensure that it is on the right channel
The acknowledgement must be received by
the Master within the timeout period
At the conclusion of step 6, a new
synchronized connection is established
between the master and the slave

Link Manager

Performs all link creation, management, and

termination operations
Responsible for all the physical link resources in the
system

Handles the control and negotiation of packet sizes used

when transmitting data

Controls Operation Modes for devices in a piconet

Sets up, terminates, and manages baseband
connections between devices

Establishes different types of links dependent on requests

from the L2CAP layer

Synchronous Connection-Oriented (SCO)

Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL)

Asynchronous Connection-Less
(ACL)

Designed for data traffic

Packet switched connection where data is
exchanged sporadically as and when data is
available from higher up the stack
Data integrity is checked through error
checking and retransmission
One ACL link between a master and a slave

Synchronous Connection
Oriented (SCO)

Intended for use with time-bounded

information such as audio or video
Provides a circuit-switched connection
where data is regularly exchanged
Retransmission is not necessary, since
data is real-time
Up to 3 SCO links per piconet

ACL Links vs. SCO Links

Intended Traffic
Type

Retransmission

Max # links
between master
and slave

Supported
during hold
mode

Switched
connection
type

ACL

Data

Yes

No

Packet

SCO

Time bounded
info (Audio or
Video)

No

Yes

Circuit

ACL Setup Under LMP

Establishing Piconets

Whenever there is a
connection between two
Bluetooth devices, a piconet
is formed
Always 1 master and up to 7
active slaves
Any Bluetooth device can be
either a master or a slave
Can be a master of one
piconet and a slave of
another piconet at the same
time (scatternet)
All devices have the same
timing and frequency
hopping sequence

Scatternets

Formed by two or
more Piconets
Master of one
piconet can
participate as a slave
in another connected
piconet
No time or frequency
synchronization
between piconets

Link Manager Operation

Devices operate in standby mode by default

until they become connected to a piconet
4 Connection Modes

Active
Hold
Park
Sniff

Modes allow devices to adjust power

consumption, performance, and the
number/role of participants in a piconet

Active Mode

Limited to 7 Active slaves for each master

Three bit address (AM_ADDR) given to each
active slave
Unit actively participates on channel
Can receive communications in any given
frame
Active slaves are polled by master for
transmissions
Unit operates on high-power

Hold Mode

Frees slave to

Attend another Piconet

Perform scanning, paging, or inquiry operations
Move into low-power sleep

Unit keeps active member address

Unit does not support ACL packets on the
channel but may support SCO packets
Master and slave agree on a one time hold
duration after which the slave revives and
synchronizes with channel traffic
Unit operates on low-power

Sniff Mode

Very similar to hold mode

Slave is freed for reoccurring fixed time
intervals
Master can only communicate during
arranged sniff time slots

Park Mode

Parked unit gives up active member

address and is assigned

8 bit Parked member address (PM_ADDR)

allows master to unpark slave
8 bit Access request address (AR_ADDR)
allows slave to ask master to unpark it

Unit stays synchronized to channel

Operates in very low-power sleep

Park Mode (cont.)

Provides the ability to connect more

than 7 devices to a master (8 bit
PM_ADDR allows 255 parked devices)
Active and Parked slaves can be
switched in and out to allow many
connections to a single piconet

Park Mode (cont.)

Master establishes a beacon channel and

beacon interval when a slave is parked
Parked slave wakes up at regular beacon
interval to

Maintain synchronization
Listen for broadcast messages (packets with all
zero AM_ADDR)
Potentially make access request to master through
(AR_ADDR)

Park Mode (cont.)

Beacon slots must have at least null

master-to-slave traffic
Master-to-slave transmissions may
extend over multiple beacon slots

Security

Link manager provides mechanism used

by devices at either end of a link for

Negotiating encryption mode

Coordinating encryption keys

Baseband handles encryption and key

generation

Host Controller Interface (HCI)

Most Bluetooth systems consist of two

processors:

The higher layers of the protocol stack (L2CAP,

SDP, RFCOMM) are run on the host devices
processor
The lower layers of the protocol stack (Baseband
and radio) are run on specific Bluetooth hardware

HCI provides an interface between the higher

and the lower layers of the protocol stack

HCI Flow Control

Main function of the Host Controller

Interface
Many times higher layer protocols have
data rates much larger than data rate
across Bluetooth radio and air interfaces

Also need to handle the reverse situation

when the host cannot accept data as fast
as the Bluetooth module can send it

Two Pieces of HCI

Host controller resides on Bluetooth

hardware accepting communications
over the physical bus (radio and air)
HCI Driver resides on the host
accepting communications from higher
layer protocols

The basic structure showing how the host controller layers are fitted into
the protocol stack

RFCOMM

Cable replacement protocol allowing

applications built to interface with serial
port to function seamlessly with
bluetooth
Emulates serial port over the L2CAP
protocol by specifying how a data
stream can be emulated

RFCOMM actually handles parallel data

Emulating the Serial Port

Typically, the receive and transmit lines are

connected to a UART (Universal
Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter)

Job of the UART is to convert between serial data

sent down cables and the parallel data processing
which devices use

Since software that deals with serial ports

view the data after it has been through UART,
it only sees the parallel data

RFCOMM protocol only works with parallel data by

connecting to the lower layers via L2CAP

Service Discovery Protocol (SDP)

Idea:
Traditional LANs: Find a connection to a
printer (or other resource) and keep
that connection for a long time
Bluetooth: Walk into an area, find a
printer (or other resource), use it, then
walk away forgetting any details of the
connection

SDP Client/Server Model

SDP Server is any Bluetooth device that

offers services to other Bluetooth device
(ex. Bluetooth-enabled printer, etc.)

Each SDP Server maintains its own

database that contains information about
the services that it offers

SDP Client is any Bluetooth device that

uses the services offered by an SDP
Server

SDP in the Bluetooth Protocol Stack

SDP Query

The SDP client queries an SDP server to

find out what services are available

Uses the L2CAP link that is set up between

the client and the server
L2CAP link provides information on services
but doesnt handle any connection to
services
Need to specify a class of services that the
client wants to use (e.g. printing services)

SDP Database

SDP Database is a set of records that

describes the different services that the
server can provide to another Bluetooth
device
When the SDP server gets a query, it looks up
the service that the client is requesting and
returns information to the client on how to
connect to the service

Using the Services

The SDP client establishes a separate

(non-SDP) connection to use the service

SDP connection is only used to determine

service availability

The L2CAP connection uses to get

information for the service can be
dropped (if no more services are
needed) or retained (if the client still
needs more services from the server)

Logical Link Control and

Application Protocol (L2CAP)

Performs 4 major functions

Managing the creation and termination of logical

links for each connection through channel
structures
Enforcing and defining QoS requirements
Adapting Data, for each connection, between
application (APIs) and Bluetooth Baseband
formats through Segmentation and Reassembly
(SAR)
Performing Multiplexing to support multiple
concurrent connections over a single common
radio interface (multiple apps. using link between
two devices simultaneously)

Segmentation/Reassembly

Baseband packet size is limited

Can handle payload of 2745 bits

L2CAP accepts packet size up to 64kb

L2CAP segments large packets into
smaller baseband manageable packets
Smaller received baseband packets are
reassembled coming back up the
protocol stack

Quality of Service

Applications may demand QoS on specific

parameters

Peak bandwidth
Latency
Delay variation
Token rate
Token bucket size

L2CAP provides requested QoS if possible and

notifies application if link can not support
demands

Protocol Multiplexing

Applications may access L2CAP through

different support protocols

Service Discovery Protocol (SDP)

RFCOMM
Telephony Control Protocol Specification (TCS)

Baseband is not concerned with operation

protocols meaning L2CAP must distinguish
between them

Protocol Multiplexing Illustrated

TCS

RFCOMM

LMP

SDP

L2CAP
ACL

Voice
SCO

Baseband

Audio

Summary

Advantages of Bluetooth

Low power consumption

Low price on Bluetooth components
Non line-of-sight

Disadvantages of Bluetooth

Wireless LANs offer faster data rates and larger

communication ranges
Possibility of interference on 2.4GHz frequency
band

Sources

http://www.ericsson.com/bluetooth/bluetoothf/
http://www.ee.iitb.ernet.in/uma/~aman/bluetooth/
http://www.mprg.ee.vt.edu/tech_xfer/ppt/bt_tut.pdf
http://www.xilinx.com/esp/bluetooth/tutorials/index.htm
http://www.palowireless.com/infotooth/download.asp
http://www.motorola.com/bluetooth/index.html
Bluetooth: Connect without Cables by Jennifer Gray
Discovering Bluetooth by Brent A. Miller